Safety street letter-box



(No Model.)

J. W. HENTZ. SAFETY STREET LETTER BOX.

Patented Dec. 15

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES WV. HENTZ, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SAFETY STREET LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,220, dated December 15, 1896. Application filecl October 28, 1890. Serial No. 369,625. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. HENTZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, haveinven ted a new and useful Improvement in Safety Street LettenBoxes, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of the entire letter-box with part of top broken away to show inside mechanism. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a part of the letter-box on the line 12, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a detail View in perspective of the outside dropdid, its auxiliary lid, and lip.

Si milar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My invention is in the nature of a street letter-box, and has for its object to furnish a box which shall be easy to operate and at the same time difficult to tamper with, being easily opened for the insertion of mail-matter, which drops to a secure receptacle when the lid is closed down.

\Vith these objects in view my invention consists in the. improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is a hood or outside drop-lid pivoted to a plate E by hinges a a. The plate E is secured to the outside of one of the end walls of the box by bolts 6 c, with nuts inside the box, and in some instances it may be preferable to dispense with this plate, in which case all the parts described as secured to or formed with this plate will be secured to or formed with the wall of the box.

B is an auxiliary lid hinged at its outer edge to the inside of the lower edge of the drop-lid A, the hinges being marked b b. The lower ends of the hood A are provided with inwardly-projecting flanges or other suitable stops, (not shown,) on which the auxiliary lid B rests when down.

O is a lip projecting outward and slightly inclined upward from the lower side of the mouth of the letter-box. This lip is so placed that it will intercept the auxiliary lid B if an attempt should be made to raise it without raising the lid A. This is. a necessary pre caution, as will be understood later on, the lid A. being the means of operating safety devices inside the box.

. Projecting inward from the lid A is an arm F, which has connected to it atf arod or link G, which at its opposite end at g connects with a safety cover or table H, pivoted at 7172 inside the box.

Flanges (1 cl project downward from the ends of auxiliary lid B, as shown.

W hen it is desired to introduce mailmatter into the box, the lid A is raised until the auxiliary lid B passes the ledge or lip OJ The lidB may now be pushed in and its flanges d, resting on lip C, will hold the lid A raised. The act of raising the lid A, through the me dium of arm F and rod G, raises the safety cover or table H to a horizontal position, thus forming two distinct apartments in the box. The mail is now inserted through the mouth of the box and lies upon the table H. The lid A is now slightly raised, so that the flanges d of auxiliary lid B are freed from contact with lip O and lid B falls to its lowest position, closing the bottom of hood or drop-lid A. Said lid is now allowed to drop, which raises arm F inside the box and through rod G brings the pivoted table II to a vertical position, dropping the mail-matter to the lower receptacle.

The box is com posed of a top and front,rear, and side walls. The top is shown curved to shed rain and the bottom J is hinged at j to the rear wall. In the lower portion of the front wall is a door 0, hinged at the bottom and adapted to be secured when closed by any ordinary staple and padlock, as shown.

Mail-matter deposited in the box may be taken therefrom through the door 0 and, when desirable, through the bottom of the receptacle. Vhen the box is to be emptied through the bottom, the hinged bottom is dropped, as shown in Fig. 1. This can only be done while the door 0 is open. The hinged bottom has on it acatch K, and'abolt L,which is made to slide within the box, engages under this catch to hold the'bottom up or closed. The bolt L has its handle end b arranged to project slightly through a notch in the edge of the side wall, so that it can be operated from the outside of the box. WVhen the door 0 is closed, it forces the bolt L under the too catch K, so that it cannot be withdrawn to allow the bottom to drop while the door is closed.

Lugs m m are, provided upon the outside of the letter-box, upon which to suspend a mailbag or other receptacle when it is desired to empty the box by dropping the bottom J.

Projections n n are provided upon the back of the box to keep the box at aslight distance from the post to which it is secured, to allow room between the box and post for the mailbag to be secured on lugs m m, as before described.

lIaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In combination with the box having a suitable mouth. or opening and provided with an outward-projecting lip or flange at the bottom of said opening, of a hood or drop-11d hinged at the top of said opening and having an upward-opening auxiliary lid hinged at its lower edge, in a position to be intercepted by said lip or flange and prevented from opening while the hood is closed, as set forth.

2. In combination with the box having a suitable mouth or opening and provided with an ontward-projecting lip or flange at the bOhlJOl'll Of said opening, of a hood or droplid, hinged at the top of the opening, and an auxiliary lid hinged to the inside of the hood having flanges to rest on the lip and support the hood in its raised position, substantially as described.

The combination in a safety letter-box, of a drop-lid A pivoted by hinges a, a, an auxiliary lid B, pivoted to lid A by hinges b, b, the lip O projecting from the bottom of the mouth of the box, the lever F attached to the drop-lid, the safety-cover or table II pivoted at h, h, and the rod G connecting the lever F and safety-cover H, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination in a letter-box of a delivery-door hinged to one side thereof and a drop-bottom hinged at one edge and having a catch, a bolt sliding inside the box to engage said catch, the door, bottom and bolt being located with relation to each other so that the bolt cannot be withdrawn to drop the bottom, when the door is closed, as set forth.

JAMES W. IIENTZ. \Vitnesses:

FRANK DE S. BENZINGER, HEZEKIAH LEE. 

